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Extreme Toyota
Book

Extreme Toyota

Radical Contradictions That Drive Success at the World's Best Manufacturer

Emi Osono, Norihiko Shimizu and Hirotaka Takeuchi
Wiley, 2008

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7

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Recommendation

Vast numbers of books discuss Toyota, but this one is more than just another paean to how well the firm uses its production system. Emi Osono, Norihiko Shimizu and Hirotaka Takeuchi, working with translator John Kyle Dorton, focus on several different elements of Toyota’s culture. They explain how the company’s leaders diagnose its internal contradictions and use them as a source of energy and a springboard for creativity. Where most corporate leaders see waste and a sad absence of harmonization, Toyota’s executives forge a fresh road through experimentation and continuous improvement. The book offers new ideas to help you assess your organization’s internal contradictions and turn them to your advantage. Despite being originally written in Japanese, and despite the firm’s recalls and woes, this volume reads well and features illustrations that help you understand the concepts behind the words. getAbstract recommends it to businesspeople who are curious about Toyota, its culture and the culture of their own organizations.

Take-Aways

  • Use your company’s internal contradictions productively as a force for change instead of trying to eliminate them.
  • For example, Toyota’s employees revere the corporation’s heritage and values, but they adapt to current conditions.
  • Its leaders manage “expansive” and “integrative” forces to fuel improvement.

About the Authors

Hirotaka Takeuchi is a graduate of the University of California at Berkley and co-author with Michael Porter of Can Japan Compete? Emi Osono is a graduate of George Washington University. Norihiko Shimizu is a graduate of Stanford. They all teach at the top-rated Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy.

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